Steve Bruce cajoles Mario Melchiot to play on with flu against Blackburn

Mario Melchiot has revealed how Steve Bruce hoodwinked him into playing with the flu.

The Latics skipper felt lousy when he woke up on Saturday morning, but Bruce still cajoled him into playing almost the entire 90 minutes against Blackburn. Despite being ill, Melchiot was outstanding and said: "I've had the flu for the last few days and woke up feeling really bad.

"I was going to come off at half-time, but the manager said, 'Give me another 20 minutes' and I ended up staying on for nearly the entire game.

"But I know the manager is like that. He's always joking that me on one leg is better than most players with two.

"If I have an injury he'll say, 'Don't worry about it, you'll be fine', so I know how he thinks."

The win lifts Wigan into the top half after they were in the relegation zone at the start of last month.

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